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If Zach Bogosian performs the way he can, there will be no need to worry about a protracted contract negotiation next time around.

The Winnipeg Jets locked up the 21-year-old defenceman to a two-year contract on Thursday that will pay Bogosian a reported $5 million — two million next season and three million the following, according to capgeek.com.

Although the deal took longer to complete than most thought it would, the important thing is that it got done before training camp opened.

There will be no holdout and no black cloud hanging over either the player or the organization when the Jets report for physicals on Friday.

Perhaps most importantly, both sides feel they’re getting good value out of the deal.

There’s no animosity and no hard feelings.

The canvas is clean, if you will.

“A contract is a big thing and to get that out of the way relieves a lot of thoughts that are in your head,” Bogosian said in a telephone interview. “Obviously, it came down to the wire here but both sides found (common) ground and I’m real happy that it got done.

“Anytime you deal with a negotiation you expect it to be time consuming. It was a long summer, but hopefully this is the longest negotiation I’ll be in.”

“As far as the relocation, I was really excited we were coming to Winnipeg and to come to a passionate hockey town,” he explained. “Hopefully, for many years to come I can be a Winnipeg Jet.”

SUBPAR SEASON

By his own admission, Bogosian is coming off a subpar season, in which his production dropped to five goals and 17 points in 71 games with the Atlanta Thrashers, while his plus-minus plummetted to a team-worst minus-27.

There were also trade rumours that lingered and were tough for Bogosian to deal with.

However, Bogosian understands there is plenty of room for growth and going through those tough times is what will help push him to take his game to the next level.

“Over the course of your career, you’re going to run into ups-and-downs and I just try to take it as a learning experience,” said Bogosian, who had nine goals and 19 points in 47 games as an NHL rookie and followed that up with a career-high 10 goals, 13 assists and 23 points in 81 games the following season. “There was a lot that I can take out of it, on the ice, off the ice. It was a hard year to get through but in the long run it will work out for me because I learned a lot of things there.”

What does Bogosian expect this season to bring?

“I just want to come in and play my game and try to be a two-way defenceman,” said Bogosian. “I know I’m young and I’m always up to learn new things and have new experiences.”

Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff also expressed his relief for getting Bogosian locked up for multiple years.

“We discussed a lot of different term options but this seemed to work well for both sides — it’s a win-win,” Cheveldayoff said. “It gives some opportunity for Zach to become part of the culture of the Winnipeg Jets and for us, to see where things go long-term.

“I do genuinely believe that Zach is going to be a Jet for a long, long time.

“Zach is one of the top, up-and-coming defencemen in the league,” Cheveldayoff said. “The sky is the limit. He’s a big defenceman, he can skate, he can shoot. He can play physical. It’s all of those aspects that we’re hoping that can become big aspects of his game.”

Right after taking the job of general
manager for the Winnipeg Jets, Kevin
Cheveldayoff made it crystal clear the
construction of his roster would be a
rather arduous process and that
shortcuts weren’t going to be the
solution for an apparent lack of
organizational depth.